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THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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DISCOURSE 


OCCASIONED    BY 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE 


HON.   SILAS  WRIGHT, 


LATE  GOVERNOR 


STATE   OF  NEW-YORK; 

AND    DELIVERED    IN   THE 

SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    ALBANY, 

SEPT.  5,  1847. 

BY  WILLIAM  B.  SPRAGUE,  D.  D. 

MINISTER    OF   SAID   CHURCH. 


ALBANY: 

TRINTED   BY    C.   VAN    BENTH0YSEN. 

1817 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Albany,  Sept.  7,  1847. 
To  Wm.  B.  Sprague,  D.  D. : 
Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, 
The  undersigned,  impressed  with  the  value,  eloquence  and  appropriateness  of 
your  Sermon  on  Sunday  last  on  the  death  of  our  late  distinguished  fellow-citizen, 
Silas  Wright,  respectfully  solicit  a  copy  of  it  for  publication. 

Uniting  with  you  in  deploring  an  event,  which  deprives  his  friends  and  his  country 
of  one  so  eminent  in  statesmanship,  and  in  the  moral  qualities  which  adorn  and 
elevate  public  distinction,  we  remain, 

With  the  highest  regard, 

Your  friends  and  parishioners, 

ERASTUS  CORNING, 
GREENE  C.  BRONSON, 
THOMAS  W.  OLCOTT, 
WILLIAM  SMITH,  Jr., 
B.  R.  WOOD, 
JAMES  D.  WASSON, 
A.  McINTYRE, 
JOEL  RATHBONE, 
ANDREW  WHITE, 
JOHN  TOWNSEND, 
E.  P.  PRENTICE. 


Gentlemen, 

In  complying  with  the  request  so  kindly  conveyed  to  me  by  your  note  of  the 
7th  inst.  it  is  due  to  myself  to  say  that  the  Discourse  referred  to  was  written  while 
I  was  labouring  under  bodily  indisposition,  and  partly  while  suffering  severe  pain. 
Such  as  it  is,  I  cheerfully  put  it  at  your  disposal,  and  am  glad  to  join  you  in  any 
suitable  expression  of  regard  for  the  memory  of  cur  departed  friend. 
I  am,  Gentlemen,  with  great  regard, 

Very  truly  yours, 

W.  B.  SPRAGUE, 
Messrs.  E.  Corning,  and  others. 
Albany.  9lh  Sept.,  Ib47. 


DISCOURSE. 


PSALM  CXLVI.  3,  4. 

Put  not  your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  son  of  man,  in  whom  there 
is  no  help.  His  breath  goeth  forth  ;  he  returneth  to  his  earth  ;  in 
that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  constantly 
the  statements  of  scripture  are  verified  before 
our  eyes ;  how  doctrines  are  illustrated  by  facts ; 
how  predictions  pass  into  history  ;  how  the 
voice  of  God  in  his  providence  is  but  an  echo 
to  the  voice  of  God  in  his  word.  Nor  is  it  in 
the  general  course  of  things  alone  that  this 
analogy  is  to  be  recognised  :  not  an  event  oc- 
curs, however  grand,  however  strange,  how- 
ever appalling,  but  that  if  we  search  the  scrip- 
tures, we  shall  either  find  that  it  is  shadowed 
forth  among  the  things  that  are  to  be,  or  else 
shall  discover  its  actual  prototype  in  some  re- 
corded reality.  It  is  a  profitable  exercise  thus 
to  compare  what  we  see  of  God's  doings  in  the 
world,  with  what  we  read  of  his  doings  and 
purposes  in  the  Bible.     It  is  fitted  to  exalt  our 


6 

conceptions  both  of  his  providence  and  his 
word,  and  to  render  his  utterances  in  each 
more  distinct  and  impressive.  And  if  I  mis- 
take not,  we  shall  find  ourselves  thus  employed, 
in  meditating  on  the  passage  of  scripture  which 
I  have  just  read  to  you,  in  connection  with  the 
dispensation  of  providence  which  hath  sug- 
gested its  selection  as  a  subject  for  the  present 
exercise. 

"  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the 
son  of  man,  in  whom  there  is  no  help.  His 
breath  goeth  forth  j  he  returneth  to  his  earth  ; 
in  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish."  We 
have  here  a  caution,  or  if  you  please,  a  pro- 
hibition, enforced  by  an  argument. 

The  prohibition  is  conveyed  by  the  words, — 
"  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  son 
of  man." 

The  object  which  we  are  here  forbidden  to 
trust,  —  what  is  it  ? 

In  the  most  general  sense  it  is  "  the  son  of 
man,"' — the  race  of  man,  —  all  the  dwellers 
upon  the  earth  who  possess  the  same  facul- 
ties with  ourselves.  Not  that  I  would  dero- 
gate aught  from  the  dignity  which  man  can 
reasonably  claim  ;  for  whatever  be  his  degra- 
dation,  there  is  greatness,    there  is  nobility, 


pertaining  to  him.  He  was  the  last  of  the  cre- 
ations of  God.  He  was  constituted  by  his  Ma- 
ker the  lord  of  this  world  5  and  hence  we  find 
that  all  the  inferior  orders  of  being  render  him 
either  a  voluntary  or  an  involuntary  tribute. 
Time  was  when,  though  a  creature,  he  was  a 
sort  of  miniature  divinity.  God  Himself  ac- 
knowledged that  his  own  image  was  shining 
out  upon  him  ;  and  even  now,  amidst  his  pre- 
sent ruin,  there  is  that  about  him  that  marks 
him  clearly  enough  as  a  child  of  the  skies. 
Let  man  then  receive  all  the  homage  to  which 
he  is  justly  entitled.  I  may  reasonably  admire 
him  as  a  glorious  piece  of  the  divine  workman- 
ship. I  may  venerate  him,  savage  though  he 
be,  outcast  though  he  be,  for  the  traces  of  the 
divine  image  which  I  can  still  recognise  in 
his  intellectual  and  immortal  nature.  I  may 
love  him  for  the  excellence  which  he  exem- 
plifies or  the  benefits  which  he  confers.  But 
there  is  a  sense  in  which  I  may  not  yield  him 
my  confidence ;  for  he  is  a  "  son  of  man  •"  and 
of  such  an  one  God  hath  said,  "Put  not  your 
trust  in  him." 

But  suppose  it  be  conceded  that  mankind  as 
a  race  are  not  to  be  trusted,  ■ —  yet  is  it  not  at 
least  possible  that  this  general  rule  may  have 


its  exceptions?  There  are  some  great  spirits 
in  the  world  $  —  great,  I  mean,  when  compared 
with  the  mass.  There  are  men  who  stand  out 
from  the  race  for  the  vastness  of  their  intellects, 
the  loftiness  of  their  purposes,  the  intensity  of 
their  efforts  in  the  great  cause  of  the  world's 
regeneration.  And  these  men,  not  unfre- 
quently,  are  exalted  to  high  places,  and  have 
a  large  dominion  meted  out  to  them  by  the 
providence  of  God,  and  their  influence  presses 
upon  you,  like  an  all  pervading  element,  from 
every  direction.  Be  it  so  that  you  may  not 
trust  the  vulgar  herd  j  be  it  so  that  you  may 
not  trust  even  men  of  ordinary  intellectual  and 
moral  stature,  —  yet  are  not  these  nobles  among 
the  race  fairly  entitled  to  your  confidence  ? 
Not  so  long  as  God  says,  "  Put  not  your  trust 
in  princes."  He  allows  you  to  reverence  them  \ 
as  the  case  may  be,  he  even  requires  you  to 
obey  them  ;  and  it  is  at  your  peril  that  you 
withhold  from  them  suitable  regards  ;  but  after 
all,  you  may  not,  you  can  not,  trust  them,  unless 
you  will  incur  the  divine  displeasure. 

Nevertheless,  this  statement  needs  to  be 
qualified  :  it  is  qualified  by  the  general  tenor 
and  spirit  of  the  Bible.  If  we  will  understand 
God's  word  aright,  we  must  view  it  in  its  con- 


9 

nections,  comparing  spiritual  things  with  spirit- 
ual ;  and  by  the  aid  of  this  principle  of  inter- 
pretation, we  quickly  arrive  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  prohibition  in  our  text  is  to  be  taken 
in  that  restricted  sense,  which  renders  it  quite 
consistent  with  the  cultivation  of  that  mutual 
confidence  among  men  which  is  enjoined  as  a 
virtue,  and  which  is  essential  to  the  well- 
being,  —  I  may  say,  to  the  existence,  of  soci- 
ety. If  the  child  were  not  to  trust  the  parent 
nor  the  parent  the  child,  the  magistrate  the 
subject  nor  the  subject  the  magistrate,  the 
master  the  servant  nor  the  servant  the  mas- 
ter j  —  if  a  universal  distrust  were  to  be  dif- 
fused through  all  the  marts  of  commerce,  and 
all  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  all  the  walks 
of  social  and  domestic  life,  the  very  elements 
of  society  would  part ;  and  the  same  winds 
that  would  unfurl  the  standard  of  universal 
anarchy  would  be  Heaven's  own  requiem  to 
human  peace  and  joy.  What  the  text  forbids, 
therefore,  is  an  ultimate  reliance  on  an  arm  of 
flesh,  even  the  most  powerful  \  —  a  trust  that 
goes  beyond  man's  ability,  virtually  attributing 
to  him  qualities  which  he  does  not  possess ;  — 
a  trust  that  brings  dishonour  upon  the  Highest, 

overlooking  his  supreme  control.     The  amount 

2 


10 

of  the  prohibition  then  is  this :  —  you  may  put 
your  trust  in  man  within  certain  limits  defined 
by  his   character  and  his  condition  ;  but  you 
may  not  trust  him  in  respect  to  the  ultimate 
disposal  of  any  thing  j  you  may  not  trust  him 
in  any  way  that  is  inconsistent  with  rendering 
due  honour    to    the    supreme    agent ;  and   in 
trusting  him  at  all,  you  are  to  regard  him  only 
as  an  instrument  in  G.od's  hand  for  carrying 
into  effect  the  great  ends  of  his  administration. 
But  why  is  it  that  we  may  not  put  our  ulti- 
mate trust  in  men,  —  even  in  princes  ?     Let 
man  stand  forth  and  show  himself,  and  in  every 
feature  of  his  character  I  can  find  a  reason, 
why  he  should  not  be  the  object  of  my  highest 
confidence.     Prince  though  thou  art,  yet  inas- 
much as  thou  art  a  son  of  man,  thou  art  a 
short  sighted  creature,  liable  to  mistake  even 
in  thy  most  confident  calculations,  and  there- 
fore not  to  be   trusted.     Thou  art  a  mutable 
creature,    often   vacillating   where   thou  wast 
expected  to  stand  firm,  showing  thyself  alter- 
nately the   advocate  and    the   opposer  of  the 
same    cause ;  and   who    can  assure    me    that 
to-morrow  will  not  find  thee  a  different  man 
from  what  thou  art  to-day  ;  and  therefore  how 
can  I  put  my  trust  in  thee  as  if  I  knew  that 


11 

thou  wouldst  never  change  ?  Thou  art  a  sel- 
fish being  j  thou  carest  for  thyself  too  much 
and  for  others  too  little ;  and  how  am  I  to 
know  that  my  interests  may  not  suffer,  even 
perish,  if  they  are  committed  to  thy  keeping  ? 
And  thine  arm  is  very  feebleness  j  when  nerved 
to  the  utmost,  it  is  scarcely  a  match  for  an  in- 
sect j  and  even  though  thine  heart  may  be  good 
for  some  great  and  worthy  achievment,  con- 
scious weakness  may  lead  thee  to  turn  thy 
face  the  other  way.  Each  of  these  were  a 
sufficient  reason  for  not  giving  to  man  our 
ultimate  confidence.  But  I  shall  content  my- 
self with  having  barely  alluded  to  them,  and 
dwell  only  on  the  reason  which  is  suggested 
by  the  text  •,  —  viz  :  the  fact  that  man  is  mortal. 
There  is  "  no  help"  in  him,  because  "  his 
breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth, 
in  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish."  Let 
him  possess  whatever  other  qualities  he  may, 
so  long  as  he  has  the  sentence  of  death  in 
himself,  it  were  madness  to  trust  him  as  if  he 
were  to  live  forever. 

"  His  breath  goeth  forth." 
Man's  life  came  with  his  breath,  and  with 
his  breath  it  departs.     The  operation  of  breath- 
ing is  performed  by  the  lungs,  —  an  organ  of 


12 

extreme  delicacy,  and  liable  to  derangement 
from  a  thousand  causes ;  some  of  which  are, 
while  others  are  not,  within  the  range  of 
human  discovery.  No  matter  in  what  part  of 
the  system  disease  may  be  seated,  or  how 
many  of  the  animal  functions  it  may  derange 
or  destroy  in  its  progress,  it  never  becomes 
fatal,  till,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  it  reaches 
the  lungs  and  stops  the  breath.  See  you  that 
strong  man  bowed  under  a  burden  that  is  too 
heavy  for  him  ;  —  panting,  writhing,  convulsed 
with  an  agony  that  pervades  every  nerve,  dis- 
torts every  feature,  vents  itself  in  every  breath? 
Oh,  he  is  undergoing  the  mysterious  process 
of  dying !  The  ultimate  fact  that  comes  with- 
in your  observation  is,  that  his  breath  is 
going  forth  ;  but  the  visible  here  is  only  the 
representative  of  the  invisible  j  —  there  is  an 
assemblage  of  great  and  awful  facts  of  which 
the  senses  take  no  cognizance,  that  cluster 
around  this  one,  and  that  go  to  make  up  the 
whole  idea  of  dying.  You  cannot  judge  of 
the  office  of  death  by  what  you  see  :  the  mon- 
ster himself  must  become  your  teacher,  and 
you  must  become  at  once  his  subject  and  his 
victim,  before  you  can  suitably  estimate  the 
work  that  he  performs. 


13 

But  this  expression  is  significant  not  merely 
of  death,  but  of  sudden  death.  "  His  breath 
goeth  forth,"  as  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 
Perhaps  he  sat  by  your  side  conversing  with 
you  5  a  brief  pause  ensued,  and  while  you  were 
waiting  for  his  answer,  you  saw  that  he  was 
dead.  Perhaps  he  retired  to  his  chamber  in 
vigorous  health  ;  and  as  he  appeared  not  in  the 
morning  at  the  accustomed  hour,  you  knocked 
at  the  door  of  his  apartment,  and  received  no 
answer,  as  it  turned  out,  because  he  was  dead. 
Perhaps  he  was  in  the  pulpit  proclaiming  God's 
message,  or  at  the  bar  vindicating  the  rights  of 
the  injured,  or  in  the  senate  house  speaking 
to  the  extremities  of  the  nation  j  —  he  uttered 
his  last  sentence  with  all  his  wonted  earnest- 
ness and  manliness,  and  there  were  no  signs 
of  faltering  even  upon  the  very  last  word  ;  and 
yet  it  was  the  last  word  he  was  destined  to  utter : 
the  preacher,  the  advocate,  the  statesman  was 
dead.  And  it  is  not  merely  in  the  more  mys- 
terious forms  of  disease  that  sudden  death 
lurks,  but  in  the  innumerable  casualties,  as  we 
call  them,  —  unlooked  for  and  appalling  occur- 
rences, which  enter  so  largely  into  the  expe- 
rience of  men.  How  suddenly  did  that  man 
die,  who  was  awakened  at  the  dead  of  night 


14 

by  the  fury  of  the  flames  or  the  crashing  of 
the  timbers,  in  the  ship  that  was  bearing  him 
across  the  ocean ;  and  yet  he  was  only  one  of 
a  host  who  sunk  that  night  in  the  great  waters. 
How  suddenly  did  he  die,  who  went  forth  from 
the  midst  of  his  friends,  a  little  while  since,  to 
encounter  the  perils  of  the  battle  field  :  amidst 
the  confusion  and  terror  of  the  scene,  an  event 
occurred  little  heeded  by  those  around  him, 
but  of  mighty  import  to  himself;  —  he  fell  5  his 
breath  went  forth,  and  his  armour  seemed  to 
be  left  in  the  keeping  of  a  corpse ;  and  this 
instead  of  being  a  solitary  case,  differed  in 
nothing  material  from  hundreds  of  others. 
Oh  there  is  not  an  hour  of  your  life,  however 
free  from  care,  however  full  of  joy,  but  death 
may  come.  There  is  no  pleasure  so  innocent, 
no  duty  so  sacred,  no  condition  so  safe,  no 
relation  so  tender,  but  that  it  may  become 
identified  with  death's  terrible  ministration. 
"  He  returneth  to  his  earth." 
The  going  forth  of  his  breath  is  the  prepa- 
ration for  this.  When  the  vital  principle  hath 
once  fled,  none  but  the  creating  power  is  ade- 
quate to  restore  it  5  and  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  that  power  is  pledged  not  to  restore  it 
till  the  day  of  the  final  restitution  of  the  dead. 


15 

And  with  the  extinction  of  life  begins  the  pro- 
cess of  decay.  At  first  it  may  not  be  percep- 
tible. The  lips,  though  sealed,  look  as  if  they 
might  still  perform  their  office.  The  features, 
though  fixed  and  motionless,  have  settled  down 
into  a  smile.  The  limbs,  though  cold  and  rigid, 
seem  to  the  eye  just  as  when  they  were  nerved 
with  life.  And  the  mourner  sometimes  will 
have  it  that  his  friend  is  there  •,  nay,  will  even 
embrace  that  lifeless  body,  as  if  it  were  expect- 
ed to  give  back  some  wonted  token  of  endear- 
ment. But  soon,  in  obedience  to  a  law  of 
his  nature,  he  begins  to  return  to  his  earth. 
Not  only  is  he  deposited  in  the  earth  as  his 
final  resting  place,  but  he  gradually  becomes 
assimilated  to  the  clods  that  press  about  him, 
until,  after  a  few  generations,  he  may  himself 
constitute  the  clods  in  which  other  bodies  shall 
lie  embosomed.  I  would  never  speak  or  think 
of  this  humiliating  feature  of  our  condition, 
without  giving  God  thanks  that  Jesus  is  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life.  Let  me  have  this 
blessed  truth  as  a  lamp  to  my  feet,  and  I  will 
not  fear  to  traverse  death's  darkest  dominion  ; 
—  for  what  matters  it  though  I  find  my  own 
dearest  friend  there,  where  the  worm  revels  ; 
what  matters  it  though  all  my  friends  and  kind- 


16 

red  are  there,  an  assemblage  of  corpses  passing 
ages  of  unbroken  silence  together  ;  —  what 
matters  it,  so  long  as  I  am  permitted  to  know 
that  the  Lord  of  the  sepulchre  is  there  too  ; 
that  they  are  only  undergoing  the  Heaven-or- 
dained process  in  preparation  for  their  putting 
on  immortality  j  and  that  because  they  have 
died  in  Jesus,  they  sleep  in  him,  and  he  will 
bring  them  with  him  at  his  second  coming  ? 
"  In  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish." 

Every  man  has  his  thoughts,  his  purposes 
concerning  the  future.  This  results  alike  from 
the  constitution  which  God  has  given  him,  and 
the  condition  in  which  He  has  placed  him. 
These  purposes,  as  they  exist  in  different  indi- 
viduals, exhibit  an  almost  endless  variety  5  but 
they  all  have  respect  to  the  body  or  the  spirit  5 
to  the  life  that  now  is  or  that  which  is  to  come. 
But  be  they  what  they  may  in  their  character 
and  tendency,  when  the  breath  goeth  forth  and 
man  returneth  to  his  earth,  in  that  very  day 
they  perish.  Suppose  it  be  one  of  the  princes 
of  the  earth  that  hath  died,  —  what  a  perishing 
of  purposes  is  there  in  him ! 

If  he  had  ambitious  purposes,  they  perish. 
The  love  of  influence  is  an  essential  element 
of  our  nature  ;  and  it  is  only  where  it  becomes 


17 

perverted  through  excessive  self-regard,  or 
where  it  sinks  into  the  ignoble  desire  of  mere 
personal  ascendancy  for  the  sake  of  mere  per- 
sonal gratification,  that  the  indulgence  of  it  is  to 
be  condemned.  But  the  world  abounds  with 
examples  of  such  perversion  ;  —  cases  in  which 
this  desire,  instead  of  being  kept  within  its 
legitimate  limits,  mounts  up  into  the  ruling 
passion,  and  arms  itself  with  mighty  power, 
and  defies  every  opposing  influence.  And 
besides  these  extreme  cases,  there  are  many 
others  in  which  this  passion  is  steadily  at  work, 
where  its  operations  are,  in  a  great  measure, 
unperceived.  It  nerves  many  a  hand  that  you 
would  say  was  moved  only  by  generous  or 
patriotic  impulses.  It  breathes  in  many  a 
speech  that  you  would  suppose  was  dictated 
by  unmingled  good  will  to  man.  It  is  the  soul 
of  many  a  purpose  that  would  seem  to  have 
been  originated  by  some  influence  from  above. 
But  wherever  this  spirit  exists,  and  whatever 
may  be  the  purposes  which  it  dictates,  they  all 
perish  in  the  day  of  death.  There  may  be 
plans  formed  for  enlarging  the  sphere  of  one's 
influence  or  one's  dominion,  that  appear  en- 
tirely practicable ;  but  what  nothing  else  seemed 
likely  to  defeat,   death  defeats   in   a  moment. 

3 


18 

The  individual  may  have  felt  himself  so  great 
and  strong,  that  he  thought  there  was  no  cause 
to  fear  from  any  thing ;  but  in  his  estimate  of 
adverse  agencies,  he  forgot  the  irresistible 
power  of  the  king  of  terrors.  No  matter 
what  wreaths  or  diadems  might  have  been 
within  his  reach,  if  he  had  lived,  they  all  fade 
upon  his  dying  eye,  and  the  experience  of  his 
last  hour  stamps  vanity  as  well  upon  what  he 
had  aspired  to  as  upon  what  he  had  attained. 

If  he  have  had  patriotic  purposes,  these 
perish  also.  He  may  be  a  man  of  compre- 
hensive and  lofty  aims  ;  he  may  have  cherished 
during  his  whole  life  an  earnest  devotion  to  his 
country's  welfare  ;  he  may  have  been  placed 
in  circumstances  especially  fitted  to  keep  the 
fire  of  patriotism  alive  and  glowing  in  his  bo- 
som ;  dark  clouds  may  be  lowering  in  the 
national  horizon,  and  the  time  of  need  for 
the  action  of  great  and  heroic  spirits  may 
have  come  \  and  his  own  prolific  mind  may 
be  teeming  with  purposes  of  safety  and  honour 
to  his  country ;  but  here  again,  with  the  going 
forth  of  his  breath  all  his  noble  purposes  perish. 
His  mind  is  still  active  indeed,  but  it  is  em- 
ployed upon  other  objects  and  amidst  other 
scenes.     God  may  take  care  of  his  country  ; 


19 

but  other   instruments   than   himself  must  be 
used  for  its  preservation. 

Or  if  he  have  had  humane  and  benevolent 
purposes,  they  too  must,  with  equal  certainty, 
perish.  He  may  have  had  a  naturally  philan- 
thropic spirit,  —  an  car  that  was  quick  to  catch 
the  notes  of  sorrow,  —  a  heart  that  beat  in- 
stinctively to  every  tale  of  wo  :  though  he  may 
have  occupied  a  lofty  station,  he  may  have  de- 
scended with  the  utmost  grace  into  the  hut  of 
poverty  or  the  chamber  of  sickness  to  soothe 
and  to  comfort  •,  he  may  have  been  the  centre 
of  intellectual  or  social  improvement  to  the 
community  in  which  he  lived  ;  and  his  liberal 
mind  may  have  been  intensely  occupied  in 
opening  new  channels  of  public  or  private 
blessing  ;  but  stern,  inexorable  death  arrests 
him  ;  and  all  his  purposes  of  good,  —  where 
are  they  ?  Oh  he  can  labour  no  longer  for  their 
accomplishment ;  for  already  he  has  returned 
to  his  earth.  Public  spirit  and  philanthropy 
that  put  in  requisition  his  services  once,  are 
now  weeping  around  his  grave. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  perishing  of  the 
thoughts  or  purposes  of  the  individual  who 
is  himself  the  subject  of  death  ;  but  it  must 
occur  to  you  at  once  that  in  his  death,  other 


20 

purposes  than  his  own  perish.  If  he  have 
been  an  exalted  patriot,  his  country  has  had 
her  eye  upon  him  as  a  helper  in  great  and 
pressing  exigencies  :  she  has  expected  to  take 
counsel  of  his  wisdom,  to  repose  in  his  firm- 
ness and  integrity,  and  perhaps  to  outlive  some 
fierce  storm  for  which  the  political  elements 
may  seem  to  be  combining  themselves,  because 
she  looks  to  him  to  ride  in  it  and  direct  it.  Or 
it  may  be,  it  almost  certainly  will  be,  that  his 
country  is  divided  in  respect  to  important 
principles  of  national  policy ;  and  the  party  to 
which  he  belongs  may  have  identified  him,  if 
not  with  its  continued  existence,  at  least  with 
its  highest  prosperity.  Or  if  he  have  been 
largely  endowed  with,  generous  and  humane 
sensibilities,  if  he  have  been  signalized  as  the 
friend  of  the  sick  and  the  destitute,  if  he  have 
been  ever  ready  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  phi- 
lanthropic effort  within  his  sphere,  then,  rely 
on  it,  there  are  multitudes  who  have  been 
looking  to  him  as  a  benefactor  •,  there  are 
hearts  which  expected  to  have  been  soothed 
by  his  charities,  and  other  hearts  which  ex- 
pected to  have  been  improved  and  guided  by 
his  wisdom ;  and  the  whole  community  have 
identified  him  in  some  way  or  other  with  their 


21 

hopes  of  general  progress.  But  all  these  vari- 
ous purposes,  no  matter  to  what  they  relate,  and 
no  matter  by  whom  they  are  cherished,  perish 
in  the  very  moment  of  the  going  forth  of  his 
breath.  The  political  party  in  connection 
with  which  he  had  laboured  receives  a  shock, 
as  if  the  balance  wheel  in  her  machinery  were 
gone.  The  country  at  large  which  had  reve- 
renced him  for  his  great  and  patriotic  qualities, 
acknowledges  that  an  armour-bearer  hath  failed 
her.  Those  who  had  been  blessed  with  his 
kindness  in  the  hour  of  need,  and  those  who 
had  relied  upon  his  counsel  in  times  of  diffi- 
culty, and  those  who  had  felt  their  labours 
lightened  by  his  generous  smile  or  his  volun- 
tary co-operation,  —  all  realize  that  they  had 
had  purposes  associated  with  him,  of  which 
perhaps  they  had  not  before  been  conscious ; 
—  purposes,  the  perishing  of  which,  it  may 
be,  hath  arrayed  the  future  in  respect  to  them, 
in  deep  darkness.  That  great  man,  that  prince, 
died  like  any  other  of  the  sons  of  men  •,  but 
in  the  going  forth  of  his  spirit  there  was  a 
blow  struck  that  vibrated  to  unnumbered 
hearts  :  in  the  perishing  of  his  thoughts,  the 
thoughts  of  millions  perished  also. 

Pause   now  and  see   whether  we   have  not 


22 

gathered  the  materials  for  a  most  convincing 
argument  against  trusting  in  the  son  of  man, — 
against  trusting  even  in  the  princes  of  the 
earth.  Yonder  is  a  man  of  undisputed  great- 
ness. The  God  of  nature  made  him  great  \ 
and  the  God  of  providence  has  added  largely 
to  his  stature  by  the  influences  with  which  He 
has  surrounded  him.  And  he  is  amiable  and 
generous  and  public  spirited,  as  well  as  saga- 
cious and  far  seeing :  his  integrity  not  less 
than  his  intelligence  renders  him  an  object  of 
public  respect.  His  country,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  has  found  him  out,  and  lifted 
him  into  one  of  her  loftiest  stations,  and  almost 
told  him  that  she  had  nothing  to  give  but  what 
she  was  willing  should  be  his.  He  has  no 
sickly  constitution  to  embarrass  him  in  his 
efforts  for  the  public  weal  j  and  if  the  physi- 
cian visits  him,  it  is  in  a  social  and  not  in  a 
professional  way.  You  see  there  the  full  vigour 
of  a  gigantic  mind,  and  the  strong  pulsations  of 
a  patriotic  heart.  You  see  laurels  that  have 
been  already  placed  upon  the  brow,  and  these 
perhaps  only  a  pledge  of  yet  brighter  laurels 
which  are  to  come  hereafter.  You  behold  a 
frame  so  erect  and  robust  as  not  even  to  sug- 
gest to  your  mind  a  thought  about  mortality. 


23 

And  yet  while  you  arc  looking  at  that  prince, 
what  is  it  that  forces  itself  upon  you  hut  the 
appalling  fact  that  his  hrcath  is  going  forth? 
You  may  call  for  medical  aid  5  hut  when  the 
physician  comes,  he  has  to  do  only  with  a 
corpse.  You  may  anxiously  enquire  if  it  he  not 
faintness  instead  of  death  ;  but  they  who  are 
the  wisest  in  such  matters,  answer  '  No.'  You 
may  raise  up  the  great  man  from  the  spot  where 
death  hath  laid  him,  in  the  hope  of  gaining 
some  evidence  that  the  vital  spark  is  not  clean 
gone  ]  hut  you  cannot  resist  the  conviction 
that  you  are  putting  yourself  in  contact  with  a 
clod.  All  his  purposes,  and  all  your  purposes 
in  connection  with  him,  have  perished.  And 
now  I  ask  whether  the  son  of  man,  whether 
even  a  prince,  is  to  be  ultimately  trusted.  Is 
it  not  rather  madness  than  folly  to  put  our  trust 
in  any  amount  of  human  wisdom,  or  human 
firmness  or  human  integrity,  so  long  as  it 
must  always  be  associated  with  human  morta- 
lity? 

It  cannot,  I  think,  have  escaped  you,  as  we 
have  passed  along,  that  each  division  of  our 
subject  has  a  most  striking  practical  illustra- 
tion in  the  life  and  death  of  that  eminent  indi- 
vidual whom  this  state   and  this  nation  have 


24 

just  been  so  suddenly  called  to  lament.  I  am 
aware  of  the  supposed  delicacy  of  introducing 
into  the  pulpit  notices  of  individuals  who  have 
been  identified  prominently  with  either  of  the 
great  political  parties  of  the  country ;  but  my 
own  past  experience  has  furnished  me  with 
evidence  that  here  at  least  it  is  safe  to  do  it ; 
that  whatever  may  be  your  political  preferen- 
ces or  prejudices  or  even  asperities,  they  do 
not  render  you  insensible  to  whatever  is  praise- 
worthy and  of  good  report  in  the  character  of 
the  illustrious  dead.  Besides,  in  the  present 
case,  I  rejoice  to  observe  that  the  clamour  of 
party  is  hushed,  and  even  the  newspapers 
which  sometimes  show  fiery  tongues,  and  are 
used  to  hard  and  bitter  words,  —  nay  the  very 
newspapers  that  dissented  most  earnestly  from 
his  political  creed,  seem,  under  the  subduing, 
healing  influence  of  the  grave,  to  have  forgot- 
ten that  he  was  their  opponent,  and  are  doing 
honour  to  themselves  in  their  efforts  to  do 
honour  to  him.  But  the  circumstance  which 
has  seemed  to  me  to  render  it  imperative  that 
I  should  speak  of  him  thus  publicly,  is  that  he 
was  a  member  of  this  congregation  up  to  the 
time  of  his  recently  leaving  the  city  ;  so  that 
it  must  seem  to  you  almost  as  if  I  were  speak- 


25 

ing  of  one  of  your  own  Dumber.  Many  of 
his  most  intimate  friends  are  here-,  and  this 
whole  congregation,  I  may  say  this  whole 
community,  have  been  afflicted  by  the  tidings 
of  his  death. 

I  am  sure   that  I  shall   not  put  myself  even 
upon  doubtful  ground  in  the  estimation  of  any 
of  you,   in  saying   that  the  citizen,  the  states- 
man, the  friend  whom  we  lament,  may  justly 
be   reckoned   among  the  princes  of  the  land. 
Endowed  with  a  commanding,  well  balanced 
and  versatile  intellect,  vast  in  its  comprehen- 
sion, clear   in  its  perceptions,   calm  and  safe 
in  its  judgments ;  possessing  a  heart  made  of 
frankness  and  tenderness  and  generosity  ;  fa- 
voured with  the  advantages  of  a  correct  moral 
training  under  the   parental  roof,  and   subse- 
quently with  the  advantages  of  an  excellent 
liberal   education ;    he  gave  early   promise   of 
the  distinction   which   he   ultimately  reached. 
Shortly  after   he   was   settled  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession,  lie    was    introduced   on   the   arena  of 
political    life.     His  services  were  first  put  in 
requisition  as  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  this 
state  ;    and  in   the  progress   of  his    public  ca- 
reer, he  became  successively  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  Congress,  Comp- 

4 


26 

troller  of  the  state  of  New- York,  member  of 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  finally 
Governor  of  this  state,  whose  servant  in  some 
capacity  or  other  he  had  been  for  more  than 
twenty  years.  In  each  of  these  several  sta- 
tions, he  was  distinguished  for  his  prudence, 
dignity  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  duties  of 
his  office.  It  was  probably  in  the  United 
States'  Senate,  where  he  was  brought  not  only 
in  contact  but  in  conflict  with  the  greatest 
minds  of  the  nation,  that  he  attained  his  highest 
distinction.  I  believe  it  will  not  be  questioned 
by  any  competent  or  impartial  judge,  that  he 
stood  in  the  foremost  rank  in  that  venerable 
body,  and  that  when  he  rose  to  speak,  the 
ablest  of  his  opponents  felt  that  there  was 
work  about  to  be  made  ready  for  them.  I 
have  been  credibly  informed  that  the  man  who 
has  been  for  some  time  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  adverse  party  in  Congress  and 
in  the  nation,  —  a  man  whom  the  whole  civi- 
lized world  has  recognised  as  belonging  to  the 
very  highest  rank  of  intellectual  aristocracy, 
has  more  than  once  borne  a  testimony  to  the 
exalted  powers  and  qualities  of  our  departed 
friend,  such  as  might  reasonably  satisfy  the 
most  ardent  of  his  political  admirers. 


27 

Having  spoken  of  the  offices  which  he  ac- 
tually held,  it  is  proper  to  advert  to  the  fact 
that  there  were  other  offices  of  equal  or  even 
greater  importance,  proffered  to  his  acceptance 
which  he  thought  proper  to  decline  :  I  refer  to 
the  offices  of  Secretary  of  the  treasury,  and 
Judge  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  nation,  in- 
cluding  also  a  nomination  to  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency of  the  United  States.  Whatever  may 
be  the  speculations  of  politicians  upon  his  con- 
duct in  this  respect,  the  obvious  construction 
of  it  would  warrant  the  conclusion,  —  a  con- 
clusion fully  justified,  I  think,  by  his  general 
character,  —  that  disinterestedness  was  a  lead- 
ing element  in  his  patriotism,  and  that  his  heart 
was  set,  far  less  than  that  of  most  political 
men,  on  personal  exaltation. 

What  Mr.  Wright  was  in  private,  most  of 
us  know  from  actual  observation  ;  for  he  passed 
several  years  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  he  was 
always  perfectly  accessible  to  the  humblest 
man  in  the  community.  He  was  gifted  with 
an  uncommon  perception  of  the  fitting  and 
graceful  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  While  lie 
had  a  high  respect  for  plebeian  honesty,  and 
could,  as  occasion  required,  put  on  the  plebeian 
himself,    there    was   no    circle   of   society   so 


28 

polished  or  elevated,  but  that  he  was  as  much 
at  home  in  it,  as  if  it  were  the  only  sphere  in 
which  he  had  ever  moved.     In  his  intercourse 
with  his  friends  he  was  open  and  confiding  j 
always  happy  in  their  society  and  always  on 
the  alert  to  gratify  and  oblige  them ;  and  even 
the  stranger  who  saw  him  but  for  a  moment, 
was   not  likely  to  forget  the   dignity   of   his 
manner   and  the  kindliness  of  his  smile.     To 
the  neighbourhood  in  which  he  had  his  home 
and  in  which  he   finally   died,    he    sustained 
the    most    grateful    relations  j    mingling  with 
them  freely  as  a  judicious  counsellor,  a  sym- 
pathizing friend,  and  even  an  active  labourer. 
He  was  specially  gifted  with  those   qualities 
which  render  one's  presence  welcome  at  the 
bed  side  of  the  sick ;  and  his  services  in  this 
department  of   social   duty,    were   not  unfre- 
quently  proffered  and  rendered  with  the  most 
cordial   and  winning  alacrity.     He    hesitated 
not  to  address  himself  to  manual  labour  in 
aid   of  any  object  that  was   likely  to  benefit 
the    neighbourhood   or    the    community  j   and 
it  has    even    been    intimated    that   excessive 
effort  of  this  kind,  within  the  last  few  weeks, 
was  the    proximate   cause    of  his   death.     In 
a  word,  I  may  say  with  confidence,  he  was 


29 

respected,  honoured,  beloved,    in   every  rela- 
tion. 

There  is  a  fact  or  two  in  his  history,  to 
which  I  cannot  forbear  to  advert,  illustrative 
of  at  least  a  highly  respectful  regard  to  the 
institutions  of  religion.  One  is,  that  during 
his  residence  in  Canton,  while  the  church 
at  which  he  statedly  attended,  was  without 
a  pastor,  he  was  accustomed  to  aid  in  the 
maintenance  of  puhlic  worship,  by  reading 
a  printed  discourse,  the  devotional  service 
being  conducted  by  the  officers  of  the  church. 
And  during  the  time  that  he  has  been  at  the 
head  of  our  state  government,  we  are  all  wit- 
nesses with  what  regularity  he  attended  here, 
and  with  what  apparent  earnestness  he  listened 
to  the  preaching  of  the  word.  I  mention  these 
things  only  for  what  they  are  worth ;  but  they 
certainly  reflect  honour  upon  his  character  as 
a  public  man,  while  they  come  with  the  force 
of  a  rebuke  to  many  other  public  men,  who 
find  an  apology  for  habitually  turning  their 
backs  upon  the  sanctuary,  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  burdened  with  the  cares  of  the  state 
or  the  nation. 

But   if  the  language  of  the  text  fairly    rep- 
resents  the    character   and    the  rank    of   our 


30 

departed  friend,  —  if,  by  common  consent,  he 
has  taken  his  place  among  the  princes  of 
his  country,  we  have  only  to  look  a  little  far- 
ther to  find  language  equally  expressive  of 
his  sudden,  and  to  his  friends  at  least,  awful, 
exit.  At  a  moment  when  he  seems  full  of 
life  and  gladness,  when  his  vigorous  and 
elastic  step  speaks  of  health  to  all  his  neigh- 
bours, and  no  suspicion  of  approaching  evil 
lurks  even  in  the  innermost  sanctuary  of  do- 
mestic affection; — at  a  moment  when  he  has 
just  completed  his  preparation  for  an  important 
public  service,  and  is  making  his  arrangements 
to  come  among  us  again  as  a  friendly  visitor ; 
—  Oh  at  this  most  unexpected  moment  "  his 
breath  goeth  forth  !"  It  seemed  to  those  who 
looked  on  as  if  it  must  be  some  fearful  illusion 
that  had  overtaken  them ;  or  else  as  if  the 
breath  had  gone  only  to  come  again ;  but  it 
was  no  illusion ;  —  it  was  no  temporary  sus- 
pension of  the  vital  energy.  Death,  as  if  to 
show  how  he  could  sport  with  the  strongest, 
had  held  that  prince  in  his  grasp  but  a  few 
moments,  before  he  bid  the  agonized  lookers 
on  take  notice  how  thoroughly  he  had  done 
his  work.  And  before  the  vital  warmth  has 
fled,  the  lightning  is  put  in  requisition  to  bear 


ai 

the  heavy  tidings  over  the  land  ;  and  the  sun 
in  whose  morning  beams  our  friend  rejoiced, 
has  not  sunk  beneath  the  horizon,  before  the 
state,  I  had  almost  said  the  nation,  is  putting 
on  her  habiliments  of  mourning,  because  she 
shall  see  his  face  no  more.  He  is  said  to  have 
spoken,  a  day  or  two  before,  to  one  of  his 
friends,  of  sudden  death,  as  not  in  itself  unde- 
sirable 5  but  whatever  his  own  thoughts  may 
have  been  in  respect  to  himself,  the  event  cer- 
tainly took  all  others  by  surprise. 

And  the  consequence  of  his  death,  —  how 
well  the  text  describes  that :  —  "  in  that  very 
day  his  thoughts  perish."  What  his  own  ex- 
pectations or  purposes  in  respect  to  the  future 
were,  I  know  not ;  but  who  does  not  know 
that  there  were  in  many  minds  expectations 
and  purposes  in  respect  to  him  of  the  highest 
moment ;  — that  a  large  portion  of  the  party 
to  which  he  belonged,  as  well  as  many  of  the 
party  to  which  he  did  not  belong,  were  antici- 
pating the  time  when  he  would  be  crowned 
with  the  highest  honours  of  the  nation?  But 
see,  ye  men  of  calculation  and  of  foresight, 
see  how  your  thoughts  have  perished.  Before 
you  had  time  to  invest  him  with  the  robe  of 
supreme  authority,  or  even  to  present  him  to 


32 

the  nation  as  a  candidate  for  it,  his  race  was 
run,  —  his  days  were  numbered.  When  the 
humblest  individual  dies,  the  thoughts  of  some 
perish  in  his  death  •,  but  such  a  withering  of 
human  expectations  as  the  monster  here  ac- 
complished, occurs  but  rarely  in  an  age. 

But  does  not  the  passage  on  which  we  have 
been  meditating  suggest,  still  further,  the  legi- 
timate use  to  be  made  of  this  afflictive  event? 
Does  it  not  rebuke  with  awful  emphasis  that 
excessive  confidence  in  the  wisdom  or  the 
power  of  man,  in  which  consists  so  much  of 
our  national  guilt,  and  from  which  arises  so 
much  of  our  national  danger  ?  "  Put  not  your 
trust  in  princes."  It  has  become,  I  fear,  one 
of  the  most  distinctive  features  of  our  charac- 
ter as  a  nation,  that,  in  rendering  homage  to 
party,  we  overlook  the  homage  that  is  due  to 
God.  You  select  an  individual  from  the  mass 
as  a  candidate  for  office,  who  possibly  has  little 
personal  ability  or  personal  worth,  to  distin- 
guish him  from  thousands  from  amidst  whom 
he  is  taken.  But  the  fact  that  you  have  thus 
designated  him  as  your  candidate,  seems  to 
you  to  have  separated  from  his  nature  every 
element  ol  mediocrity,  and  to  have  given  him 
an   undisputed   claim   to    extraordinary  intel- 


33 

lectual  and  moral  qualities.  You  stand  com- 
mitted now  to  his  exaltation  ;  and  you  go  about 
testifying  to  the  world  that  the  safety  of  the 
state  or  the  nation  is  bound  up  in  him.  And 
when  your  object  is  gained,  and  you  have  ac- 
tually succeeded  in  lifting  him  to  the  desired 
elevation,  —  if  you  will  notice  the  progress  of 
your  own  mind  in  respect  to  him,  you  will  find 
that  indifference  was  exchanged  for  preference, 
that  preference  was  matured  into  admiration, 
and  that  admiration  has  finally  become  idola- 
try. You  are  suffering  that  poor  mortal  to 
supplant  the  great  God  in  your  regards  as  the 
controller  of  events ;  and  though  you  would 
shudder  at  being  called  an  atheist,  yet  in  this 
matter  of  national  prosperity  at  least,  God  is 
not  in  all  your  thoughts.  Yes,  I  repeat,  party 
spirit  has  made  idols  of  our  rulers ;  and  God 
is  now  chastising  us  for  our  idolatry.  He  is 
showing  us  the  arm  of  flesh  palsied,  broken, 
that  we  may  lean  upon  it  no  longer.  Men  of 
every  class  and  every  party,  open  your  ears,  I 
pray  you,  to  the  teachings  of  the  tomb.  See 
how  much  your  idols  are  worth,  when  they  are 
thus  broken  in  a  moment  before  your  eyes. 
Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's ; 
but  forget  not  to  render  also  to  God  the  things 


34 

that  are  "God's.  Let  your  rulers  receive  the 
homage  which  is  due  to  them  ;  but  remember 
that  if  your  country  is  preserved  and  blessed, 
God  must  be  its  preserver  and  benefactor  ;  and 
you  need  not  marvel  if  your  own  efforts  for 
its  exaltation,  provided  they  are  put  forth  in 
any  other  spirit  than  that  of  ultimate  depen- 
dence on  God,  should  be  found  to  have  in 
them  the  elements  of  a  curse  rather  than  a 
blessing. 

Is  not  this  dispensation  in  connection  with 
the  subject  we  have  been  contemplating,  strik- 
ingly illustrative  also  of  the  awful  mystery  that 
pervades  the  counsels  of  Heaven?  Man  has 
his  purposes  3  and  he  imagines  perhaps  that 
they  are  in  full  accordance  with  the  purposes 
of  God  5  and  possibly  finds  in  this  reflection 
the  most  powerful  motive  to  labour  for  their 
accomplishment.  And  yet  God  has  higher 
purposes,  which  can  be  best  answered  by  his 
causing  the  thoughts,  the  designs  of  men  to 
perish.  In  the  individual  who  has  just  died, 
multitudes  had  centred  their  hopes  of  the  na- 
tion's growth  and  glory ;  they  had  prospec- 
tively identified  with  him  measures  of  supposed 
utility  and  perhaps  reform ;  and  it  seemed  to 
them  as  if  the  continuance  of  his  life  were 


35 

almost  certain,  because  it  was  so  necessary  •, 
but  He  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning, 
saw  that  the  great  ends  of  his  government 
would  he  best  accomplished  by  his  removal ; 
and  therefore  he  hath  returned  to  his  earth. 
Oh  how  the  wisdom  of  the  Unsearchable 
mocks  at  all  the  force  of  human  calculation ! 
When  it  seems  to  short  sighted  man  as  if  God 
were  defeating  his  own  designs,  He  is  actually 
moving  forward,  in  all  the  majesty  of  omnipo- 
tence, to  their  accomplishment.  He  may 
trample  on  human  hopes,  in  his  progress ;  He 
may  overturn  magnificent  structures  that  the 
heart  of  charity  hath  originated  and  the  hand 
of  skill  hath  reared ;  He  may  seem  to  leave 
behind  Him  naught  but  desolation  and  dismay ; 
and  still  when  the  day  of  final  revelation 
comes,  wisdom,  perfect  wisdom,  will  be  found 
inscribed  upon  every  part  of  his  procedure. 
Let  this  reflection  hush  the  rising  spirit  of 
complaint  in  the  hour  of  public  or  private 
calamity.  When  God  raises  up  eminently 
useful  men  and  continues  them,  and  when 
He  changes  their  countenances  and  sends 
them  away,  He  is  working  in  the  one  case  as 
well  as  the  other,  for  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
good.     He   may  not  only  send   princes,  as  it 


36 

would  seem  to  us  prematurely,  to  the  grave, 
but  He  may  dash  kingdoms  to  pieces  as  a  pot- 
ter's vessel,  and  yet  nothing  will  have  occurred 
but  will  help  to  form  the  mighty  mirror  that 
will  reflect  his  glory  upon  an  admiring  uni- 
verse to  all  eternity. 

I  must  not  close  the  discourse  without  sug- 
gesting a  caution.  Let  no  one  imagine  from 
any  thing  in  the  preceding  train  of  remark, 
that  there  is  any  just  ground  of  glorying  save 
in  the  cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  have 
spoken  of  the  graces  of  nature  and  commended 
them  5  and  so  I  have  a  right  to  do,  for  they  are 
the  gift  of  God.  I  have  spoken  of  the  dignity 
that  pertains  to  rank,  and  the  homage  that  is 
due  to  rank ;  and  here  again,  I  am  sure  that  I 
offend  not  against  the  spirit  of  the  Bible.  But 
I  should  be  chargeable  with  treason  to  Him 
whose  servant  I  am,  and  with  criminal  unfaith- 
fulness to  you  whose  servant  I  also  am,  though 
in  a  far  lower  sense,  if  I  were  not  most  dis- 
tinctly to  proclaim  that  in  the  great  matter  of 
the  final  meeting  with  God,  nothing  can  avail 
but  a  conscience  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  a  heart  purified  by  his  Spirit.  The 
badges  of  earthly  distinction  become  worthless, 
if  not  burdensome,  amidst    the    shadows   of 


37 

death.  The  plaudits  of  the  multitude  pall  upon 
the  spirit  that  is  just  rushing  forth  to  meet  its 
God.  The  prince  may  have  scorned  the  beg- 
gar's poverty  and  the  beggar  may  have  coveted 
the  splendour  of  the  prince  ;  but  both  must 
enter  Heaven  by  the  same  strait  and  nar- 
row way,  or  else  incur  the  reprobate's  doom. 
AVhether  ye  are  men  of  high  degree  or  of  low 
decree,  I  would  that  it  might  fall  like  thunder 
upon  your  ear  and  upon  your  heart,  "  Without 
holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 


LB2325.L77 

Obituary  addresses  delivered  on  the 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1       1    1012  00085  2162 


